Paisley Material
by Chocolate Miyazaki
Summary: Sora and Riku have always been BFFs, but lately they're awakening to feelings that seem to be more than that; then, they become partners for a home ec project. How will their feelings make themselves known? Multi-chapter/R&R/RiSo & side AkuRoku Shonen-Ai
1. Barside Blues

Hello, fanfiction world~ It's me again, Mizz Yaoi ;D Okay, that name is self-proclaimed. And awesome!  
Anyways, this is my first multi-chappy, so… yeah. Multi-chapters are fun. Here ya go!

*DISCLAIMER*: I disclaim this game.

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SLAM!

Riku exhaled a startled breath before shooting his teacher one of his famous death glares. He realized painfully that this particular teacher - a home ec teacher; weren't they supposed to be kind, gentle pushovers? - was going to be the type to snap quickly. It was only the third day of school, so he'd been testing all his teachers like this all day, to see which ones would find creative ways to wake up the dozers, and which ones would just ignore it. Apparently, this man wasn't going to budge. He had long, exuberant blue hair, and although he'd gone to college and earned himself a real teacher's name, such as Mr. Aizawa, or Mr. Smith, he _insisted _that all his students refer to him by his first name, Mr. Saix. Riku didn't figure that Mister was actually part of his first name, but when he'd pointed that out he'd just gotten an eraser to the face.

"Alright, now that I've got _everyone's _attention," began Mr. Saix, "I would like to announce our first project of the year!" Multiple groans rippled throughout the class, and Riku noticed that Sora chipped in with his own groan and facepalm from his place a couple seats away from him. "You shall be allowed a partner, whom you may pick yourself." The class erupted into chaos, everyone making a mad dash to snag their friends. However, Riku simply remained in his seat, glad that this was a mixed class and he could be partnered with Sora, so that he didn't have to deal with all the annoying girls in the class fighting over him. Who needed girls, anyway? Right on cue, Sora bounced over to his desk.

"Partners?" Sora asked, letting a grin take over his lips. Upon witnessing Sora's face light up so wholeheartedly, Riku couldn't prevent a small smile from pulling at the edges of his own mouth box.** (A/N: XD just getting creative...)**

"Like always," he replied simply.

"The project is due in one week's time," boomed Saix's voice, overriding the garrulous students' chatting and laughter. "You and your partner must sew a throw pillow using the fabric I've provided here," he elucidated, motioning towards the pile of fabrics stacked at the back of the room. Chaos erupted for the second time, all the girls darting to the fabrics to pick out the absolute cutest designs. By the time the crowd by the fabrics had dispersed, and Sora had lost his slap fight with Riku about who had to get up, Sora sluggishly made his way to the back of the classroom and grabbed the only fabric left: a hideous paisley pattern; it was obvious why no one had selected it.

"Wow. We _would _end up with the ugliest fabric for a throw pillow ever created by mankind," Riku intoned once Sora had found his way back to his best friend and plopped the offensive material down on his desk disgustedly.

"So, are you coming to the new cafe thingy place thing with me and Roxas after school?" Sora inquired, unable to keep his mind on anything school related for more than a total of five minutes. Riku knew this because he'd timed him once when they'd been working on math homework together in middle school. Let's just say that that assignment did not receive the highest of marks.

"No. I promised Patience Summers that I'd walk her home today," Riku replied noncommittally.

"That new exchange student from America? Why would you be so nice as to make a promise to a girl...a new girl at that?" Sora asked, cocking his head to the side confusedly. He was beginning to detect an unfamiliar, angry feeling frothing in the pit of his stomach.

"Well, she sort of cornered me in the courtyard, and I couldn't exactly say _no_..." he trailed off. Enlightenment betook Sora's features suddenly.

"Wow, Riku! I didn't know you actually had a heart!" he exclaimed wondrously, receiving a playful punch in the arm from Riku, although by then they were both smiling warmly.

"Well, it's not like my heart got stolen, or like I was suddenly overcome by the power of darkness or something," he retorted. Sora laughed jovially.

"Yeah, you're right, that's not possible! Haha, sorry."

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After - very patiently, in Sora's own fine opinion - explaining the reason of Riku's absence about 20 times in a row to his twin brother, Roxas (as Roxas was rather infamous for being completely dead to the world after a full day of school), the duo made their merry homework-procrastinating way over to the "new cafe thingy place thing." Roxas was dragging his feet heavily, and appeared to be stuck somewhere in between really fucking stoned and spiraling ever faster into a vast pit of algebra-class boredom. Our tawny-haired hero realized solemnly that the responsibility fell upon his small-set shoulders to get Roxas to the new Zen Restaurant and order him some coffee, A.S.A.P. He grabbed ahold of Roxas' wrist, and upon discovering that his more emo twin was too dog-bone tired to shake him off, guided him swiftly to a booth in the rather small, but cozy, diner.

As Roxas allowed his head to _thunk_ in a concerning manner onto the hard wooden table in between them, Sora took in his new surroundings. The floor was black-and-white checkered, like something from a 50's diner, or a tiled flooring you'd find on the Sims 2. The walls were an eggshell off-white, edged with a flowery pattern that Sora would've picked out for a kitchen or living room rather than a restaurant.

Sora noticed that there was actually a bar in the corner of the diner; interesting…  
Working behind said bar was a woman with long legs and medium-length, silky-looking obsidian hair. Her skin was a soft pale color with a creamy undertone, and her delicate visage was set in a bored, dreamy expression as she dried a glass with a tired-looking rag. She was clad in a tight, leathery outfit that showed off her smooth shoulders and flat lower abdomen. She seemed like "the type of beautiful ordinary that you just can't leave alone." Her striking appearance caused Sora to stare for a full minute before he realized how totally rude he was being.

He forced himself to continue observing the rest of the diner, and found it to be an overall aesthetically pleasing place. However, as entertained as he was trying to keep himself, he soon found his dreadful attention span dwindling to nonexistence, like when he was in biology class. After sitting there for a couple minutes twiddling his thumbs, fruitlessly waiting for his server (the place _was _rather busy, seeing as how it had just had its grand opening, and all), he decided that he could afford to leave Roxas alone for a few moments while he explored the place. Without really paying attention to where he was going, he allowed his mind to wander as much as his body was, and when he came back to reality he found that his feet had carried him to the bar where the intriguing woman he'd noticed before was working. Although almost all the booths and tables were occupied at the moment, no one was seated at the bar, so Sora decided to sit a spell. The woman seemed interesting enough.

She glanced up when she heard him sit down and offered him a pretty, friendly smile, which Sora returned happily.

"Hi there; where are your parents, kid? This is a bar, you know," the lady said in a lightly teasing voice; it was very feminine sounding, smooth and gentle, but it also possessed a rough edge that suggested she was more strong and able than she appeared. Sora flashed her one of his goofy grins.

"I'm just bored; I'm waiting for our waiter to come to our table and... wait on us. And by 'us,' I mean my brother Roxas and me; look, over there," Sora rambled, pointing at his twin across the restaurant, who appeared to be quite dead. "He doesn't look too good right now, but he's usually... very... well, he's usually awake." The woman cracked an amused smile and set down the spotless drinking glass in favor of a soaking wet one and commenced drying it with the same exhausted white rag. "I'm Sora, by the way," he added on.

"Nice to meet you, Sora. You know, I was kidding when I said you shouldn't sit here. I also serve soda," she said lightheartedly, brushing a lock of her midnight black hair behind her ear. Sora's face lit up at this newfound information (as if it wasn't cheerful enough already).

"Thanks!" he gushed. "You know, before you guys opened, we would always hang out at the place down the street, Twilight Island. But I can already tell that this place has much better energy. And the staff here is so much nicer!"

"You flatter me," the barlady laughed as she poured Sora a glass of Sprite. "Actually, this place was almost not opened in the first place. I had to push my good friend, the owner of this place, to open it." Sora's eyes look as though they would bug out of his head.

"You know the owner of this place?" he questioned, the amazement apparent on his face, as the woman passed him the Sprite.

"Yes," she replied. "The founder of this restaurant is named Cloud Strife; he and I are childhood friends."

"Haha, I know what childhood friends are like," Sora intoned, sipping his soda thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it's one of the closest relationships a person can experience, as well as one of the easiest to get messy."

"I hear you there." Sora let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

The barlady paused for a moment, observing Sora's expression. At last she inquired, "Is something bothering you?" Sora sighed again and laid his chin on his folded arms, next to his now forgotten Sprite. He remained quiet for quite some time, and the bar woman was about to poke him to see if he'd spontaneously died when he finally spoke again.

"It's…about my childhood friend," he began.

"Ah," she intoned airily, a wise sense of knowingness in her tone.

"We've…" he started hesitantly, as though he had a cork stuck in his throat, but then he took a steadying breath, and the words all came flowing out as though he'd ripped the cork out and unleashed a wave of built up emotions. "We've always been super close, but lately… I feel different. These feelings are really new to me and I'm scared. Especially with…this person."

"Oh? And what are these feelings?"

"Just… whenever I'm with him I feel like I'm on top of the world. Is that weird?"

A gentle smile graced the barlady's creamy visage, and her large coffee brown eyes were bright. "Well, perhaps you should follow your heart to the top of the world," she advised simply.

Sora sat there for a moment as this sunk in, and after a couple seconds the barlady's phone began to buzz loudly. She slipped the phone out of her pocket and viewed the caller ID.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this," she excused herself, stepping aside and flipping her cell phone open.

"Hello, Aerith," she answered joyfully, her voice possibly even brighter than her eyes had been moments before. Suddenly, she pulled the phone away from her ear and covered the mouthpiece, turning to face Sora once more.

"My name's Tifa, by the way," she told him, and before Sora could respond her phone was pressed to her ear again. "Yes, your dinner's in the fridge, sweetie," Sora heard as her voice grew quieter and quieter as she climbed the stairs to the upstairs of the store, until it disappeared altogether. Sora continued to sit there for a few silent moments, before snapping back to reality and making his way back to his brother, with something new to think about. After a few thoughtful minutes, he was snapped out of his inner drifting by the newly arrived waiter, and Sora was yet again merely supplied with more staring material.

Standing before him was an extremely freaking tall dude, who appeared only a few years older than Roxas and himself. His hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail that wasn't even close to maintaining all of his crazy-ass spikes, which were an intense blood red. He had a unique upside down tear drop tattoo under each of his vivacious bright green eyes. There was a mixture of boredom and annoyance upon his facial features.

"Hello, my name is Axel," began the waiter, pen poised over notepad precariously. "I will be your waiter this afternoon. Can I start you off with something to drink?"

Deciding to shake things up a bit, Sora replied politely, "I'll have a Coke," grinning at Axel in his dorky Sora way. He decided to go for the second soda even though his mom always told him not to drink more than one soda a day - something about "driving her up a wall" when he'd had "too much sugar" (Sora didn't believe that "too much" and "sugar" could be used in the same phrase); then, when Sora had very politely explained to his mom that he didn't even have his license yet, she'd just told him to go play with Roxas because she needed time to "collect her long forgotten sanity." Whatever that meant.

"Is Pepsi okay?" Axel asked with a tone of exasperation, as if he'd already taken the orders of over 9,000 Coca-Cola lovers that day and was sick and tired of the Coke vs. Pepsi debate already.

"Um, yeah, that's fine," he told him.

"And your friend?" Axel inquired, quirking a single shocking ruby eyebrow and gesturing airily to Roxas, whose face was now very well acquainted with the glossy, smooth tabletop.

"Little Roxas, wakey-wakey," Sora cooed, poking his twin on the arm.

"I'm UP," Roxas insisted irritably, slowly roused from his "nap," rubbing his eyes and yawning like a little kid before scowling at Sora for giggling behind his hand at him. The young blonde then turned his attention to the waiter, and his face filled with color so quickly that every blushing anime character ever would have been proud. The waiter's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when their eyes met, and Sora wondered if everyone had suddenly gone crazy. Maybe the zombie apocalypse was finally becoming a reality? What if Sora would catch it next? WHAT IF THEY WERE ALL GOING TO DIE?

"Are you guys okay?" Sora demanded suddenly, practically leaping across the table to grab ahold of Roxas' shoulders. "ROXAS! Can you hear me?" Roxas slapped his brother's hands away irritably; however, Sora was simply relieved that he as annoyed rather than brain dead and lunging at him for flesh and brains.

"Pepsi," Roxas mumbled at last, suddenly unable to meet Axel's gaze, who was now stashing his pen and paper back into his jet black waiter's apron.

"You got it," declared Axel, winking flirtatiously in Roxas' direction before disappearing into the kitchen from whence he came. The wink only caused Roxas' face to flush an even deeper rubicund. He stared intently at the doorway into which the waiter had disappeared for a solid ten seconds, and Sora became panicked again that he was suddenly going to attack him for juicy brains. He was mapping out zombie escape routes in his mind when Roxas finally turned his gaze back onto him, stared into his electric blue eyes for a good five seconds, and finally dropped his head onto the now-abused table twice as hard as before.

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After enduring about twenty minutes of Roxas and Axel, Sora thought he was going to scream. As much as Sora tried to concentrate on his Coke and the nachos he'd ended up ordering, the tension between the two was so tangible Sora felt as though he could reach out and touch it solidly. They continued to exchange glances and, on Axel's part, flirtatious smirks, throughout the whole time they'd been there.

"Here he comes," Sora whispered as he spotted Axel making way for their table once again, and when Roxas glanced up quickly and noticed him, his face filled with color and he dropped his frenzied eyes at once. However, instead of appearing at their table and asking them how they were doing as he'd done before, this time Axel plopped a black leather folder onto the table.

"Here's your check, fellas."

Roxas opened his mouth as though he was going to speak, but only a nervous strangled sound came out; Sora, being the amazing twin brother that he is, quickly covered it up with his own coughing fit, before smiling innocently at Axel, who had one eyebrow arched.

"Thank you," Sora replied at last.

"You have a good day, and... come back soon," Axel said, stealing one last glance at Roxas before smirking knowingly and stalking away. Once he was out of sight, Roxas let out a tense sigh.

"Thanks for that, Sora," he said.

"No problemo; what are brothers for?" Sora said brusquely. "And, was it just my imagination, or was the last part of what he said totally aimed towards you?" Sora teased, his eyes glinting mischievously. Roxas's face flushed red in negative two seconds, and Sora let out a stifled laugh.

"S-Shut up!" he snapped, but his fierceness only made Sora crack up harder. Roxas rolled his eyes and cracked open the check book.

"SORA! You got TWO sodas?" Roxas exploded.

"What? Oh, yeah, that! See, I got bored and went and ordered a soda at the bar, and then I came back over here and totally forgot about my first soda, so then I ordered a second soda, but then I remembered I already had a soda but by then I already had my second soda so I was like, 'Oh well...' And, like, I didn't want my new drink to go to waste, because I mean, it was a perfectly good soda, and mom always told us never to waste soda because there are starving children in Africa, or something like that. So, you see, I was practically _forced _to drink it. I can't fight the values I was raised with," he finished, nose in the air triumphantly. Roxas groaned exasperatedly.

"Sora..."

"Yes my loving brother?"

"You're an idiot."

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Okay, so that was chappy one! Yeah. It's gonna get all shonen-ai by the next chapter, I promise. Even though I guess it technically already is, since everyone I write about seems to end up being gay… Why does this always happen…? Well, I guess the difference is that this chapter only has IMPLIED shonen-ai. *teh wink*

FUN FACT: The name Patience Summers wasn't just random. I named her Patience, after my older sister's beautiful bong 3 aaaand Summers was just 'cause I wrote this last summer. This is the extent of my creativity. XD

Anyways, please drop a review by! I'd love to hear what you have to say. Legit.

Spread the love! Spread the light! ~Parallel Plane Hunter


	2. Always Unfinished

Here is chappy ni of my story~ Domo arigato to every single person who alerted, favorited, and reviewed chappy ichi! You're all winners in my heart! Yeah I don't know either. Please allow me to show my appreciation by accepting this bucket of shonen-ai. ;) Enjoy~

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6 days later…

"How the heck did we end up doing the entire project at the very last minute, AGAIN?" demanded Sora, running a stressed hand through his spiky oaken locks.  
"Because you're partnered with me, _again,"_ answered Riku, always the helpful one…

"Oh… Yeah, probably; remind me never to make that mistake again," Sora joked, sticking his tongue out at his best friend.

"If you keep that up, I'll never go to the Zen Restaurant with you," Riku threatened in a monotone voice that suggested he knew what was going on around him, but most of his mind was focused on his reading material, a comic entitled The Sandman.

"I've been going there every single day after school," Sora began, as though Riku's absent-minded words had triggered something he'd just remembered he'd wanted to tell him. "Roxas keeps dragging me back, even if there isn't school. I'll never understand that boy!" he declared.

Sora had arrived at Riku's house at around 6 o'clock, and they'd spent their precious time set aside for doing the home ec project, doing just about everything besides their home ec project. This was the usual routine whenever they tried to work together on anything like this, and Sora had actually grown quite fond of it, considering they almost always got the work most of the way done. Which isn't flunking! That counts for something, right? Sora mentally sweatdropped.

The time was currently 10:23 PM, and Sora's mom didn't want him home until 11. So they had all the time in the world for the project, in Sora's simple mind. They were both lounging about Riku's bedroom, and pretty soon Sora got a little too comfortable, and his mind began to wander as he watched the stars outside of his older friend's window. He witnessed them twinkling and glimmering before his eyes, and he got to thinking about how each little star is, in its own right, an individual miracle. Their existence is pure light and consciousness. Would that make the constellations collective miracles, coming together to shed light upon our lives in entertaining forms and teach us hard-learned lessons about life? Assuming there was no other life out there made pretty much no sense to Sora; with all those stars out there, how could their light not be reaching others, somewhere? Existence shed upon existence.

"So many naked people in this comic…" rumbled Riku's voice quietly.

Sora sat up like a bullet, his train of thought completely broken and replaced with a new one.

"Didn't you tell me you walked Patience Summers home again, yesterday?" he remembered suddenly, his voice revealing more emotion than he'd even realized he'd been sitting on. Riku looked up at last from his Sandman comic, slowly, his eyes meeting with Sora's suspiciously – only for a moment, though, as Sora's quickly darted to the floor (a characteristic unlike him).

"Yyyyyyeah," Riku answered.

"Oh."

A silence dragged on, and Riku gave his attention back to his comic book.

…

"Why?" Sora demanded out of nowhere, his voice sounding like he was poorly attempting to cover up some sort of anxiety. Riku looked up at him once more, trying to hold his gaze for longer this time.

"'Why…?' The real question is: why do _you_ care, Sora? Does it _bother_ you?" he asked in his soft, deep voice, which held a certain predatory charm to it at the moment which Sora had never experienced before.

Sora didn't respond – he had no idea how he'd ever get his jumbled up thoughts out of his head and into words. His gut felt like it was tied in a knot. An awkward silence fell into place, in which Sora tried to nonchalantly go back to watching the stars, and Riku resumed his comic peaceably. And then, before he even had time to think, Sora was flat on his back on Riku's spongy mattress.

"Wha-?" was all he was capable of choking out, too confused to struggle when he realized that he had been pinned down by his slender wrists, Riku's knees on either side of his body. What the…?

"Now, honestly, why would you ask a question like that, Sora? If you ask me, you seem just a tad _jealous_." He smirked triumphantly when he noticed a bright blush smack itself onto Sora's face. By that point, Sora had regained his bearings enough to struggle; it's not like it made any difference, though.

"I am not!" he insisted, his blush only worsening when he noticed exactly how close together their faces were. This was…too much…he didn't understand…his heart threatened to pound out of his chest. Why was he reacting this way? Riku's face appeared flawless under the moon's light spilling in through the window (the only other light was Riku's dim desk lamp). He'd always noticed it growing up, but now he realized how truly angelic looking Riku really was. As he studied his features, from the creases of his eyes to the curve of his lips, he felt his heart soften, although it only picked up its pace.

His heart was holding a strong, very foreign emotion that freaked the hell out of him. However, he stopped squirming when he noticed how purely happy Riku looked, a rare smile spread generously across his beautiful visage, and he knew that if he were to break Riku's good mood right now, he would surely be pure evil.

"You're so cute when you're flustered and vulnerable," Riku intoned suddenly, and he smiled even wider at the look of shock that registered on his "victim's" face. Sora was about to retort with God-knows-what, when some force of nature seemed to flip a switch which turned on a magnet between the two of them. Whatever else was going on in Sora's head was cut off abruptly as Riku's soft lips met his own. He lay there, stunned, until his heart won out over his head and he gave into Riku's eager-yet-cautious kisses. He knew Riku really didn't want to hurt him by the way he was kissing him, as though he was a delicate flower made of shiny, slippery glass. Riku's tongue brushed lightly against Sora's upper lip, encouraging Sora closer to him. He responded by arching his body closer to Riku, unable to stand being apart any longer after all these years of not being able to touch him the way he truly wanted. His wrists no longer trapped underneath Riku's iron-like grip, his hands automatically found their way to Riku's face. Subconsciously, his fingers lightly feathered the side of his face lovingly, before intertwined themselves into Riku's silky silver curtain of hair. A stifled moan escaped his lips, which were quickly recaptured by Riku after only one refreshing breath. His senses were on fire; this moment ineffable. The emotions Riku were conveying to Sora's quivering heart right then were so immense and powerful, Sora began to feel overwhelmed. All of the love, fear, and frustration built up in the both of them was threatening to explode, and Sora found himself pushing Riku away from him, a concerned hand pressed against his whirling head. Riku backed up, and he was able to push himself into a sitting position, both of them heaving for breath, their faces flushed.

When Sora realized the full magnitude of what they'd just done, he hopped out of the bed like a flash of lightning. He had just answered a lot of questions his heart had been wondering, and it only seemed to raise over nine thousand other questions. Their eyes locked, sharp aquamarine into crystalline sapphire, and suddenly all that Sora wished for was to remain here, in Riku's arms, the scent of Riku's cologne permeating all of his senses until it would be all that remained in his reality. Pure bliss.

Then he tore his eyes away; his heart and mind simply would not cooperate.

"I – I'm not – you're – we – I don't know – I gotta…" he stuttered, his legs turning to jelly with Riku's hurt gaze upon him. His vision distorted by traitor tears, he stumbled out of Riku's door and ran all of the way home.

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Alright, thank you to those who read all of this fluffy boy love ^^ This chapter was actually produced while I've been chillin' at home, since I got to miss school today =w=. I woke up with my voice gone, that I did! Actually, I know the reason why my voice is gone, but it's kind of retarded to admit…let's just say I was up singing all night or something. Does that ever even happen…? Anyways, don't be afraid of Mr. Review Button! I trained him very well not to bite any of my readers!

Spread the love! Spread the light! ~Parallel Plane Hunter


	3. I Found the Lightswitch in My Closet

THANK YOU to every person who favorite, alerted, and commented on this story. n_n Each of you has a special place in my heart! 333 I am sooo sorry for the really fucking late update. I'm not going to lie and make up excuses about my "busy, busy" life – I'm an extremely lazy person.

*Disclaimer*: To shake things up, let's go with a little poem for this chapter! *Ahem Ahem*:

Kingdom Hearts, I dost not own

Nor The Mist, or Home Alone.

*snap* *snap* *snap*…I rhymed ^^

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After what seemed like an eternity of running, Sora finally collapsed on the cold linoleum of his kitchen floor; the kitchen was connected to the living room in their diminutive but comfy apartment. The front door was right at the end of the long, dark wooden floored hallway leading back to the bedrooms and the rest of the house; when you walked in, the living room was to the left and the pale yellow walled kitchen to the right. He had sprinted all the way home, not a single coherent thought to be found inside his dazed mind. His thoughts were caught in a whirlwind, their perpetual swirling creating a cacophony of confusion, too loud to actually make out intelligent thought. After his panting slowed and eventually died away, he pulled his knees up to his chest and pouted at thin air. By now, he could think at least find a little clarity in his mind. Oh yeah, definitely. _One_ thought could be deciphered right now in his mind's tangled mush: _WHAT THE FUCK?_

In a sense, everything made sense now. The unreasonable outbursts of anger he'd displayed when Riku was with someone else, especially Kairi; the way his heart would double in pace and his breath would catch in his throat whenever Riku got too close to him; but, the moment Riku was out of his sight for too long, his heart would begin to yearn for his presence again. The rare hugs Riku had bestowed upon him over the years of their friendship, in times of hardship or sorrow, had all felt like coming home for nourishment to Sora. A vast sum of the best moments of his life had been spent with Riku by his side. Riku was always strong enough for the both of them, but still let Sora hold his own weight (he'd learned over many a-argument not to underestimate Sora's strength…or his stubbornness).

But, at the same time, nothing made sense anymore. All the years he'd spent cementing this solid foundation in his mind, denying his inner heart for so long; the wall in his heart was completely crumbling away now. None of his justifications held anymore, and he found himself forced to face the truth. The flaming, glittering truth, fuzzy feather boas and fruity drinks included.

It was like when his mom used to have to chase him around the apartment and then corner him and pin him down in order to get him to swallow liquid medicine. The fruity medicine of truth was being forced down his throat right now, but before he could allow himself to swallow it fully, he heard a thump against the front door.

On guard instantaneously, Sora was on his feet like a flash of lightning. What if there was a terrible mass serial killer standing outside his door, with long greasy hair and bugs crawling on his skin, bracing himself to bust through the door and shoot up the apartment while infecting them all with AIDS? Or maybe it was a team of professional thieves, like the villains in Home Alone? Or an angry pirate coming back to reclaim his stolen gold, slicing down anyone who got in his way, like in that one movie he saw that one time with his mom?

With the thought of protecting his family strong in his resolve, he determinedly crouched into his famous Sora Ultimate Ninja Attack position and started inching towards the door. Not wanting to have the wool pulled over his eyes by the attacker, Sora decided to take the upper hand while he still could. Bracing himself to meet a figure in black coming to collect his soul before his timely death, Sora took a deep breath and, unbolting the front door, swung it open in a fit of desperation.  
"YAHHH!" cried a voice slightly deeper than Sora's, yet of a softer tone, as though used less often and more delicately than Sora used his own.

"AHH!" shrieked Sora, jumping out of the doorframe just in time to avoid being crushed to the ground by none other than his twin Roxas; and, a blur of bright rubicund and jet black told Sora that his brother was not at all alone. They had fallen in through the open door, a heap of tangled limbs on the wooden hallway floor. Sora clutched his startled heart as Roxas groaned and struggled underneath Axel **(A/N: kekekekeke ;D), **who was like, twice his freaking size.

"Get off me, Axel…!" Roxas hissed hastily, his sandy blonde hair a flustered mess atop his head; Sora didn't know which was redder, Axel's hair or Roxas' face. Axel regained his bearings and managed to disengage himself from Roxas, sitting up to finally meet Sora's gaze with a slightly sheepish, yet self-satisfied half-smirk. His hair was almost as frazzled looking at Roxas', and they were both out of breath and flustered. Roxas could barely look at Sora, and without another word Sora worked out what the two had been up to in the tacky '90s carpeted hall outside the door, and he had to quickly stifle his laughter at Roxas' embarrassment.

"Ah! S-Sora! We were just…Axel was j-just…I was…W-We—"Roxas struggled with the words as though they were coated in slippery grease, and Sora had to bite back his laughter with all the more willpower. Axel had finally picked himself up off the ground and extended one slender hand to Roxas, a babbling mess on the ground.

"We were just saying goodnight," Axel finished for him smoothly, flashing Sora another half-smirk, his emerald eyes twinkling briefly, blissfully; all the while, Roxas looked like he was about to die from mortification and leaned into Axel the slightest bit for support.

"Y-Yeah," stuttered Roxas, finding the words coming easier to him, "he was just leaving. Well, bye, Axel," he said, spinning around and looking up at aforementioned lanky figure. Axel smiled down at him.

"See ya later, Roxas," he intoned, his voice slightly sensual sounding. Roxas' blush deepened, and in the blink of an eye Axel was gone. The moment he was out of sight, Roxas emitted a long-winded sigh, sinking to the ground with an idyllic expression etched upon his features.

"Awww, wittle Woxy is _gwoing up_!" Sora gushed teasingly, and Roxas sent his infamous Roxas Death Glare his way; which actually only made Sora start cracking up.

"Shut up!" Roxas snapped. "Why are you home, anyway? I thought you were working on your biology project with Riku or something." At the mention of Riku, Sora instantly stopped laughing, a glazed look overcoming his eyes; it was as though storm clouds had suddenly rolled into the kitchen, clustering around Sora and his heartache.

"_It was home etc._…" he mumbled finally with a depressed sigh, leaning his back against the wall opposite his brother and sliding down until his butt hit the floor.

"Whoa… What happened? Did you and Riku like have a fight or something?" Roxas inquired, concern coating his visage. Sora felt his heart wrench, and he thought he would certainly explode and paint the walls with his guts if he didn't get this off his chest.

"RoxasIthinkI'mgay," the words all rushed out at once, jumbling together to perhaps form new words from a language Roxas had never heard.

"Eh?" Roxas intoned, cocking his head to the side. If he couldn't learn how to speak right they were never going to get anywhere. Sora took a deep, steadying breath and, summoning the rest of the energy he had left, told Roxas: "I'm gay."

Roxas blinked once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then he rolled his eyes.

"No shit," he said at last, and Sora's jaw dropped to the floor.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"I've been thinking that for a long time," Roxas elucidated, "you're, like, the only one who hasn't realized yet. Or, I guess you finally have. Congrats." Roxas smiled, genuinely happy that his brother had stopped suppressing his inner self.

"Yeah, well, that's not even the best part. I'm in love with Riku."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Roxas burst out.

"Finally! A reaction that makes sense!"

"Hahaha, no, I was just kidding. I knew you were in love with Riku since we were like seven and you pushed that girl down on the playground for pinning him down and kissing him." Sora's face exploded into a blush. He'd completely forgotten about that…_blocked it out_, more like.

"Oh yeah… I totally forgot about that," he said sheepishly, ruffling a hand through his spikey hair.

"So what made you realize all of this suddenly?" Roxas inquired curiously. Sora's eyes widened to the size of saucers and he quickly dropped his gaze to the floor. A few moments passed of solid silence, and Roxas was beginning to wonder if he should be worried when Sora finally spoke.

"He kissed me tonight…" A loud gasp erupted from Roxas, and Sora looked up to see his twin brother in a fanboy-like state of happiness.

"Oh my God, FINALLY! That is _so_ great, Sora. So, what happened? Eh, eh?" he urged, his rarely shown excitement floating to the surface and lighting up his face.

"Well, I mean like, we were kissing…" Sora began, once again staring fixedly at the floor as a blush applied itself to his cheeks, "and then… I dunno. I sort of like, pushed him away?" Roxas' joy disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"You _what?"_

"And then I sort of… ran away," Sora finished lamely, ashamed of his actions in retrospect. Riku had probably been feeling the same way he had been at the time, he hadn't deserved to be treated like that.

"Sora, you idiot! How could you do that to Riku?" Roxas demanded.

"I dunno!" exclaimed Sora frantically. "I was just confused and overwhelmed – I didn't know _what_ to do," he admitted, surfacing tears causing his sapphire eyes to sparkle under the luminescent glow of the kitchen lights. Roxas's heart immediately softened.

"I'm sorry, Sora. That really blows," he said in a sympathetic tone. Sora sniffed loudly - some might said dramatically – and got his tears under check.

"I know what it's like to first come of the closet," Roxas continued.

"Ah, speaking of gay people, how was your date with Axel?" Sora asked, glad for a change of subject. A blissful expression overtook Roxas' visage, and he gazed into space for a minute before responding.

"It was really fun," he confided at last, "Axel took me to the movies and then to the park, and we got sea salt ice cream!" his voice was infused with such untainted, simple joy that Sora almost forgot about his own problems for a couple minutes in light of his brother's happiness.

"Really? I'm glad. You guys seemed like you were _really_ having a good time earlier," Sora teased. Roxas blushed and angrily chucked a random flip flop lying by the door at Sora's head – however, Sora was quite experienced with Roxas' angry outbursts, and dodged it expertly.

"Shut up!" he shouted, and Sora giggled into his fist. Finally Roxas decided to disregard his brother's… unfortunate comment, and settled back into his previous dreamy state as the memories of the night swam back to him. "I learned a lot about him," he continued. "The whole reason he's here is because his best friend, Saix, convinced him –"

"_Waaaaaaait,_ SAIX? That's totally my home economics teacher!" interjected Sora. Roxas shot him a look and he quickly shut his trap.

"Anyways," Roxas continued, "Saix and Axel grew up together, and moved in together once they were old enough because it would be way cheaper for the both of them. However, they were having trouble making money to keep the place where they were living; but a miracle happened when their good friend, Tifa, called them up and told them about the job opening at Twilight Town High for Saix, and that her friend Cloud was opening a restaurant and that she could assure Axel a position there. They all grew up together, but even though Axel and Cloud had never really gotten along, Cloud still gave him a job. Now Axel's working as a waiter until he can save up enough money to get his own place. He's trying to go to college for psychology in the fall – he says he has always had a way for analyzing people and working out their psyches."

Tifa… Tifa… Where had Sora heard that name before? Tiiiiiiiiiiiifffaaaaaaaaaa…

"OH MY GOD, I KNOW TIFA TOO!" Sora exploded, breaking the silence at the end of Roxas' speech, like taking a hammer to a glossy window pane.

"Really?" Roxas asked, his eyes widened with general surprise. "Small world, I guess…" A silence overtook them, in which both boys were lost in their own thoughts.

"So, what are you gonna do about you and Riku…?" Roxas asked tentatively, hoping he hadn't stepped on a landmine. Sora gazed into nothingness for a long time before answering slowly, "I dunno…"

"Well, I'm sure you'll work it out. You always do," Roxas said comfortingly as he stood up, brushing his pants off, for once having to be the optimistic one. "Well, I'm gonna take a shower," Roxas said gruffly before disappearing down the hall. Sora sat there for a little while more, the sound of the shower starting up background music to his thoughts. What _was _he going to do about Riku? How would he face him at school tomorrow? How could he face him, e_ver?_ What if Riku never wanted to see him again after what he'd done? Before he worried himself to death, he picked himself up off the floor, almost robotically making his way to his bedroom. Crashing onto his mattress, he thought he'd be awake all night with these frenzied thoughts, but sleep quickly laid its comforting hand upon him and granted him some rest.

Tomorrow would be a long day….

~~~~~~~~~!#$%^&*&()_+)(*(*&^&^%$#$#!~!#$%^%^*&(*)(*(%^&^%$#$~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! 3 I won't make up any promises about when the next chapter will be out. I _will_ finish this story… at some point… probably.

Spread the love & light ~Parallel Plane Hunter


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